Jimi Mistry lights up West is West gala premiere

Jimi Mistry and his Strictly Come Dancing partner Flavia Cacace waltzed down the red carpet at the premier of West is West in Leicester Square on Tuesday night.

Mistry was joined by his fellow cast members for the event at Vue Cinema, as part of the 2010 London Film Festival.

The film, directed by Andy De Emmony (Fantabulosa) and written by Ayub Khan-Din (East is East), is the follow up to the hugely successful East is East, and re-unites us with the Khan family who first hit our screens over a decade ago.

Mistry, who returns as Tariq, said: “I’ve worked with Leslee and Ayub for such a long time. I was involved with East is East as well. It’s been a big part of my life and the springboard for my career. I will always be there for it. So I came back and I’d say: Thank you for having me back!”

Newcomer Aqib Khan plays the lead role as the youngest member of the Khan family, Sajid, who is sent back to Pakistan, to the wife and daughters his father abandoned 30 years earlier.

Talking about his role, Khan said: “This is my first film role and I’m ecstatic to be walking the red carpet with the likes of Om Puri and Ila Arun! My friends always used to joke that I looked just like Sajid out of ‘East is East’…then my teacher encouraged me to go to an open call audition and I got the part.”

Mistry and Khan will be joined on screen by original cast members Om Puri,  Linda Bassett, Lesley Nicol and Emil Marwa when West is West hits UK cinemas on 25 February 2011.

Categorised in: News

This post was written by Alex Peace